Konstantinos Zorbas, M.Litt, PhD
Associate Professor
Email: konstantinoszorbas@outlook.com (or: shaman@sdu.edu.cn)
Biography
Konstantinos Zorbas is a social anthropologist with research interests in shamanism and indigenous religions in Siberia. His first fieldwork was carried out in the Russian Republic of Tuva (South Siberia), where he examined shamanic practices dealing with an epidemic of curse afflictions. This research formed the basis of his doctoral thesis, entitled: “Agents of Evil: Curse Accusations and Shamanic Retaliation in post-Soviet Tuva, Siberia” (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge). Before this study, Konstantinos completed a master’s degree in social anthropology at the University of St. Andrews, where he wrote a thesis drawing on the classical scholarship of Siberian and Arctic shamanism. Fieldwork in Tuva was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation. His current research focuses on shamanic genealogies and ancestor worship among Manchu ethnic communities in Jilin Province, northeastern China. He is an associate professor at the Department of Anthropology, School of Philosophy and Social Development, where he has taught since 2012. He has published on Tuvan shamanism and ethnic revival, and has presented papers at several conferences (China, Korea, Japan, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Russia, and Greece).
Research Interests: Siberian ethnography, Tuva, Northeast China, shamanism, indigenous religions, anthropology of the state, post-socialism, Eurasian ideology.
Qualifications
PhD, Polar Studies (Social Anthropology and Russian Northern Studies), Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge (2007)
Master of Letters in Social Anthropology (with distinction in the dissertation), University of St. Andrews (2001)
BA in History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece (2000)
Languages: Greek, English, Russian, some knowledge of Tyvan (an indigenous Siberian language)
Taught Courses:
- Political Anthropology
- Religion and Rituals
- Anthropology of Law
- Siberia and North Russia (Area Studies)
- Medical Anthropology
- History and Theory of Anthropology
Publications
Monograph:
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2021. Shamanic Dialogues with the Invisible Dark in Tuva, Siberia – The Cursed Lives. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- Book Outline (online article): Shamanic Dialogues with the Invisible Dark in Tuva, Siberia: The Cursed Lives - Book in Focus (cambridgescholars.com)
Selected articles:
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2022. “Shamanism and Cultural Evidence of Intangible Violence in Tyva, Siberia”. Anthropos: International Review of Anthropology and Linguistics, vol. 117: 181-191.
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2020. “Shamanism, Occult Murder, and Political Assassination in Siberia and Beyond”. Special Issue: “Spectral Revolutions: occult economies in Asia”. Made in China Journal (Australian National University Press), vol. 5: 154-159.
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2019. “The Professionalization of Revivalist Shamans as Ministers of Justice in Tyva, Siberia”. Anthropos: International Review of Anthropology and Linguistics, vol. 114: 87-96.
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2017. “Shamans and the concept of cursing in Tuva, Siberia”. In the Journal Folklore, National Academy of Athens, pp. 163-176. In Greek.
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2017. “Resorting to shamanic agencies: filling in for the failure of the official institutions in a Siberian periphery (Tuva Republic, Russia). In Trames: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences (Estonian Academy Publishers), vol. 21 (2), pp. 133-149.
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2017. “Shamanism and Legally Unfathomable Crimes against Life in Tuva, Siberia”. In Anthropological Pathways: Festschrift. Mystis Publications (Greece), pp. 439-456.
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2015. “The Origins and Reinvention of Shamanic Retaliation in a Siberian City (Tuva Republic, Russia)”. Journal of Anthropological Research (University of Chicago Press),vol. 71, pp. 401-422.
Zorbas, Konstantinos. 2013. “Shirokogoroff’s Psychomental Complex as a Context for Analysing Shamanic Mediations in Medicine and Law (Tuva, Siberia)”. SHAMAN: International Journal of Shamanistic Research, Budapest, vol. 21, pp. 81-102. 2013.
